"Lady Chung?"
Soo-ah whispered to herself as she spied the hotel owner walking leisurely towards the lounge, phone in hand and typing on it. In a heartbeat, she straightened her hotel uniform, glanced at her reflection in the small mirror on the counter, and quickly followed her down the hall. It's very rare for their Lady Boss to show up on a weekend, in broad daylight, in plain clothes.
"Please take over for me," she said hurriedly to her fellow staff as she quickly ran through today's schedule in her mind. She doubted she missed anything, but she didn't check for any urgent messages for the last few hours.
'Maybe Secretary Oh sent us something?' She thought as she quickened her pace.
"Lady Chung," she said hurriedly as she caught up to her. "Good afternoon."
Ji-Eun heard a small voice behind her and turned, "Oh, hi." She stopped walking and smiled, dropping her phone to her side.
Soo-ah bowed. "I'm just wondering if we missed anything on your schedule. We didn't see any updates from Secretary Oh."
Ji-Eun tilted her head, wondering about something.
"Do we need to prepare anything?" Soo-ah asked.
Ji-Eun tilted her head, her smile growing a fraction wider. "Oh, no, no," she said. "I'm just here for something personal. I'm not going to stay long. Not going up to my office either so there's no need to do anything. Thank you, Soo-ah."
"I see," Soo-ah nodded. She felt somewhat relieved because their staff was not yet done cleaning and tidying up her office and room. Although Chung Ji-Eun wasn't that particular about that kind of stuff and was easygoing, often just appreciative of their efforts, her secretary was a different story entirely. They wouldn't get an earful from either of them, but Oh Jaehyun would be looking all disappointed and would be the one apologizing on their behalf which made them feel embarrassed.
"Walk with me?" Ji-Eun asked as she turned around and started walking.
Soo-ah nodded and quietly followed her to the lounge.
"I'm surprised you're here," Ji-Eun started. "Aren't you supposed to be off this weekend?"
Soo-ah stared at her outline for a bit. "I'm picking up shifts, Lady Chung," she said. "One of our staff members in the VIP area has taken her maternity leave."
"Hmmm, did Mira give birth already?" Ji-Eun asked thoughtfully. "We should send her something."
"Not yet but she took her leave earlier than scheduled because of some minor issues," Soo-ah responded. "It's her first baby after all."
Ji-Eun nodded back at her. "We'll make sure to visit her and extend help if she needs it. Also, Soo-ah... Just make sure you get some rest too, okay?"
Soo-ah smiled. "I will, Lady Chung."
The rest of the walk toward the lounge had been quiet as Ji-eun went back to looking at her phone, with Soo-ah following behind her. As they did, her Boss greeted the staff cordially, putting away her phone every time and even stopping for a quick chat with some of them. As they continued, Soo-ah began observing her. She seemed to be in a relaxed mood today, very different compared to how she was during a normal workday. Her usual suit dress was now replaced with a white lightweight sweater, jeans, sneakers, and a beige trench coat making it seem like she was a student who was just starting to go to university.
'How old is she?' Soo-ah wondered. 'Twenty-two? Twenty-three? Not really that much older than me, I think. It's quite amazing that she's so grounded despite having all these luxuries.'
Soo-ah felt a mix of awe and quite a bit of envy looking at Chung Ji-Eun, but that feeling could easily be pushed aside. To be honest, Chung Ji-Eun didn't give off a prideful aura or personality. She talked loudly and laughed easily at the presence of her Father, seemed to be close with her Father's secretary calling him Uncle on some days, joked around with the bodyguards, and bantered around with Secretary Oh good-naturedly. She was also respectful to her staff and tried very hard to meet their needs. She had seen her go out of her way to make things happen for her staff more times than she could count. She even heard from some employees that Chung Ji-Eun personally reviews and prepares their contracts and annual benefits, something that can be easily done by an executive, a manager, or even Secretary Oh. One time, she even hosted an event for an employee's child when the eldest daughter finally graduated from her university. A job offer from their group of companies soon followed that.
All in all, it's really hard not to like somebody like Chung Ji-Eun and Chung Luo-Yong. Both father and daughter seemed to be nice people.
The only drawback that Soo-ah and the other employees noticed was that she did not seem to have any interest in romantic relationships. There had been a gossip floating around before that Oh Jaehyun was her boyfriend, but that was quickly shot down by the ever-stoic male secretary himself.
'Oh, no. Miss Chung would not like to hear that and she's way out of my league. So let's stop all this gossip mill before we find ourselves thrown out.' She remembered Secretary Oh laughing about it like it was yesterday. Soo-ah almost felt bad about his statement. They would have looked so good together like in one of those TV shows.
'Why won't Lady Chung like that though?' She remembered thinking to herself.
Many men have tried to woo her of course. Her staff had received a lot of requests from well-known people asking to meet her or send her flowers and gifts through the hotel concierge, but she would only, albeit politely, instruct them to send a thank you note and a gift back on her behalf. She would keep to herself and her work on most days.
Reaching the lounge area, Soo-ah hurried ahead in front of her to help open the glass doors.
"Thank you," she smiled at her again and touched her arm.
Soo-ah could only bow and smile back as she passed her. Ji-Eun hadn't walked far when she turned back around.
"Soo-ah, please tell everyone that afternoon tea is on me," Ji-Eun said. "Thank you for your hard work. I'll see you later."
Soo-ah smiled at her gratefully and nodded. "Thank you, Lady Chung," she said.
Soo-ah continued to watch her as she made her way toward an occupied table near the window.
'Oh?'
She spied a tall, good-looking man standing up and greeting her warmly.
'CEO Song?' Soo-ah tilted her head. 'Oh, that's right! She's engaged to that guy.'
Soo-ah forgot all about her being engaged to Song Hyun-Shik as she still hoped to romanticize her and Secretary Oh's working relationship. She watched as Chung Ji-Eun returned the greeting and prevented him from going over and pulling out a chair for her, laughing a little as she pushed his hands down and asked him to go back to his seat. Soo-ah mourned a little for Secretary Oh, but seeing her get along well with this person didn't look bad either.
She turned her back to the couple and slowly walked back to her post.
'They are in a different world, aren't they?'
Soo-ah had seen news of their engagement everywhere, on the news and social media, but it seemed too unreal for her. It would make sense that in their world, rich people would marry someone of equal standing. But from what the news put out, it seemed like CEO Song's company is not doing that well at present.
Why then would they get together? Is it true that it's only because of money? Or like what most people had deduced, it was only because Chung Luo-Yong knew the Song family?
'I sincerely hope Lady Chung is happy. She's too nice of a person to be pushed around.'
Soo-ah took one last look at the couple talking inside the lounge, sighed, and turned the corner.